"To the Farthest Shores" by Elizabeth Camden

This RITA Award winning author, Elizabeth Camden, is an author I pay attention to. I enjoy her characters and stories each time I purchase her novels. To the Farthest Shores interested me on so many levels. Far be it from me to spoil your surprise and discovery of the mystery woven into this story. I will not reveal plot twists and turns, but I do say that this was a refreshing dip into the 1898 and 1904-time period, which allowed me to consider how America has changed for the better concerning women’s employment as well as the unique interactions of the characters.

Elizabeth Camen’s characters are fresh, realistic, and entertaining. The main character, Jenny Bennett, is a nurse working for the U.S. Army. Her strength, intelligence, and likability makes her a personality to look up to and respect. Ryan Gallagher, also referred to as Galahad, is an amazing hero and thank you Elizabeth for having a pleasant good guy be the love interest! Refreshing! I love the thread about cultured pearls!

Elizabeth Camden caught me off guard with one of the character’s inner struggles. Well done! You—reader of this blog post—will have to listen on audio or read her novel to discover what I hint about here. I enjoyed the audio version of her novel, but I also purchased the printed copy on my Kindle too.  If you do read her novel and figure out what struggle I’m alluding to—don’t hesitated to write a comment on this blog. (Without spoiling it for the next reader of her novel please!)

You may consider this an invitation to read Elizabeth Camden’s novels—she is an author who does not disappoint!

I have recently read “To the Farthest Shores” which I highly recommend as an excellent read. But today I’m switching up which book I’m presenting questions for. My communication with Elizabeth Camden revealed a very interesting story that has been recently released. So reader, does this grab your interest for your next read? This line of questions from Ms. Camden certainly tickled my fancy!

1) How did you decide to write A Dangerous Legacy?
 I was inspired to write this novel after reading a terrific book called The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s Online Pioneers, by Tom Standage. The book describes how news agencies telegraphed stories all over the world, and how the telegraph operators who staffed these machines around the clock often got bored and began chatting with one another during slow times. They also eavesdropped on one another. I immediately knew this would provide a great setting for a novel. Although we tend to think of online friendships and internet hacking as very 21st century, all of this was occurring during my 1903 timeframe via telegraph machines.
 
 2) If you could be like one of the characters in A Dangerous Legacy—which one would you be like and why?
There are three leading characters in the book. All are brave, charismatic, and fearless. I’m not like any of them!  I don’t even want to BE one of them! I always put my characters through the wringer before they earn their happy ending, so that’s not a lot of fun.  If I had to choose one, I would pick my heroine, Lucy, because she gets Sir Colin Beckwith in in the end, and he is a very dishy guy!
 
3) What is the message theme you most want your reader to benefit from?
Mostly to keep our dreams in perspective. The plot revolves around a family who has been swindled out of a forty-million dollar inheritance, but the heroine has one final chance to win the lawsuit and deliver justice for the people of New York City. I love a good Charles Dickens story, and that was the vibe I aimed for in A Dangerous Legacy, complete with fascinating villains, heroes battling overwhelming odds, and a heroine desperate to put a generations-long vendetta to rest.  Lucy’s single-minded determination to win the lawsuit causes her to lead a barren life as she funnels all her time and energy at the quest. She let bitterness get the better of her. I think many people can relate to periods in their life when they felt cheated or slighted. It can be a challenge to keep that emotion confined and prevent it from tainting the rest of your world.   
 
4) What was your favorite bit of history you discovered while you researched for this novel.
I learned a lot about the way water was supplied to New York City, and about the network of tunnels, drains, and subways that run beneath the city.  Those spooky settings make for great plot devices!
 
5) What is your next novel about and when will it be available for purchase?
My next book is a sequel to A Dangerous Legacy, called A Daring Venture, and it will release in mid-2018. The heroine is a doctor who is part of a research team that proposes a controversial solution to cure waterborne diseases. This puts her in stark opposition to the hero, who is the newly appointed Commissioner of Water in New York. It is based on a real life court case from 1908, and I loved the chance to research the courageous scientists, businessmen, and engineers who participated in this landmark case. Decisions this big are rarely easy, so it was a wonderful story tailor-made for a novel.
6) How do you wish your readers to contact you?
Email works! I am at elizabeth@elizabethcamden.com
or www.facebook.com/ElizabethCamden/

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